New Zealand · Marlborough

Greywacke Vineyards

Small Marlborough producer built by Kevin Judd after 25 vintages at Cloudy Bay, using wild yeast fermentation and Sutherland family fruit to make a savoury, textured range of seven wines.

The producer

Kevin Judd spent 25 vintages building Cloudy Bay into the wine that made Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc a global category. When he left in 2009 to start Greywacke, he made choices that ran counter to everything a successful commercial career would suggest: no owned winery, minimal land, fruit from a single trusted family, and wild yeast from tank to barrel. The scale dropped. The specificity went up.

Greywacke operates from the Omaka Valley outside Blenheim, drawing roughly 75% of its fruit from the Sutherland family vineyards across central Marlborough's Wairau Plains and Southern Valleys. Seven wines form the range: two Sauvignon Blanc styles, Chardonnay, Pinot Gris, Riesling, and Pinot Noir. Wild fermentation runs through all of them, adding the savoury, textured dimension that separates Greywacke from the lean, high-acid style the region made famous. The Chardonnay, 100% wild yeast with 20% aged for 18 months in heavily toasted French barrels, is the bottle that shows most clearly what Judd chose to build after Cloudy Bay.

Known for

Wild-fermented Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay from low-yielding Marlborough sites.

Notable facts

The story

The winemaker who built Cloudy Bay, then left it behind

In 2009, Kevin Judd walked out of Cloudy Bay after 25 vintages and set about building the smallest version of a winery he could manage. He did not buy land. He did not build a cellar. He signed a sourcing agreement with the Sutherland family, leased a production facility in the Omaka Valley, and hired a small team. The decision he cared most about was fermentation: Cloudy Bay had been made to a consistent house style, reliable vintage after vintage, because that is what large-scale commercial wine requires. Greywacke would use wild yeast throughout, which meant each vintage would ferment at its own pace, on its own timeline, producing character that no formula could predict. The savoury texture and aromatic complexity that now distinguishes Greywacke from the region's more polished Sauvignon Blanc styles is a direct consequence of that single departure from the approach he had followed for a quarter of a century.

From the atlas

Greywacke Vineyards

At A Glance

Producer: Greywacke Vineyards Country: New Zealand Region: Marlborough Winemaker: Kevin Judd (founder) Grapes: Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Pinot Gris, Riesling, Pinot Noir Range: Seven wines across two Sauvignon Blanc styles and five further varieties Style: Wild-fermented, low-intervention whites and one red from low-yielding Marlborough sites

The Producer

Kevin Judd spent 25 vintages building Cloudy Bay from a new venture into the wine that made Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc a category. When he left in 2009 to start Greywacke, he made a deliberate set of choices that ran counter to everything a successful commercial career would suggest: no owned winery, minimal land, fruit from a single trusted family, and wild yeast from tank to barrel. The scale dropped. The specificity went up.

Greywacke operates from the Omaka Valley outside Blenheim, leasing its production facilities and drawing roughly 75% of its fruit from the Sutherland family vineyards in central Marlborough. Seven wines form the range. Judd describes the project as a celebration of place, driven by varietal and seasonal expression rather than house consistency. That is the exact inverse of what large-scale commercial winemaking demands, and the wines taste like someone meant it.

Place

Marlborough sits at the northeastern tip of New Zealand's South Island, where the Wairau River has deposited a broad alluvial plain between mountain ranges. The Wairau Plains form the flat, free-draining floor of the region: stony soils, long sunshine hours, and cool nights that slow ripening and hold acidity in the grapes. The Southern Valleys run inland from the plains, cutting between the Wither Hills, where the soils are heavier and the aspect shifts. Fruit from the valleys adds weight and aromatic concentration to whatever is grown there.

Greywacke draws from both zones. The Wairau Plains provide bright, mineral-edged fruit for the standard Sauvignon Blanc. The Southern Valleys supply the low-yielding sites used for Pinot Noir and some of the other varieties. Neither zone is a legally delimited appellation in its own right; they are sourcing references within Marlborough's broader geographic designation. The practical consequence is that Judd can blend across topographic differences to build the flavour profile he wants, rather than being bound to a single vineyard's character.

Soil And Site

The Sutherland family vineyards, which supply the majority of Greywacke's fruit, sit on the stony, free-draining soils characteristic of central Marlborough. Greywacke's sourcing strategy prioritises low-yielding sites within these two zones rather than seeking specific geological markers. Lower yields concentrate sugars and aromatic compounds in each grape, which matters most in varieties like Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay, where the difference between adequately ripe and properly ripe fruit shows clearly in the glass.

Story

Judd was born near Southampton and moved to Adelaide at nine years old. He came to New Zealand through Australia, trained as a winemaker, and joined Cloudy Bay near its founding. Over 25 vintages, he helped shape what Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc meant to the world: a bright, green-edged, high-acid white that matched seafood and summer and sold in enormous quantities. It was a success by any measure.

Leaving in 2009 was a decision to make something different. Where Cloudy Bay required consistent house character at scale, Judd wanted seasonal variation to show, fermentation to be spontaneous, and a small team to make every call by hand. Greywacke launched with leased facilities and a sourcing agreement rather than bricks and vines. The infrastructure stayed lean so the winemaking could be specific. Wild yeast, which introduces unpredictability and savoury complexity in equal measure, became the thread running through every wine in the range. Cloudy Bay had been made to a formula that worked; Greywacke was built to work differently each year.

Vineyards And Cellar

All fruit comes from low-yielding sites in the Wairau Plains and Southern Valleys. Judd contracts from the Sutherland family for roughly 75% of what Greywacke needs, selecting parcels for yield restriction and site character rather than volume.

Wild yeast fermentation is used across the range. Spontaneous fermentation takes longer than inoculated fermentation and carries more risk of stuck or uneven conversion, but it introduces complexity that cultured yeasts do not. In the Sauvignon Blanc, wild fermentation adds a savoury, textured dimension to the aromatic fruit. In the Chardonnay, it is the governing decision: 100% wild yeast, with 20% of the fruit fermented in heavily toasted French barrels and aged on lees for 18 months. The toasted oak integrates into the fruit rather than floating above it. The remaining 80% avoids new wood, so the barrel fraction works as seasoning rather than signature.

Judd does not own the winery building. He leases the facility and focuses his time on sourcing, fermentation decisions, and blending. The range stays at seven wines, which keeps every cuvée within reach of close attention.

Wines

The range opens with two Sauvignon Blanc expressions. The standard Greywacke Sauvignon Blanc is intense and aromatic: capsicum, guava, gooseberry, mineral freshness, and citrus, drawn from Wairau Plains and Southern Valleys fruit. It is the commercial anchor and the bottle most people reach for first. Wild Sauvignon uses wild yeast throughout, which slows fermentation and builds apricot, lime, and herbal notes alongside a firmer acid line and more weight on the mid-palate. The two bottles represent the same grape and the same sourcing zone read through different fermentation decisions.

Chardonnay is where the cellar argument becomes clearest. Wild yeast fermentation, 20% in heavily toasted French barrels for 18 months on lees, and 80% in neutral vessel: the result carries lemon curd, white peach, and oyster shell, with nutty yeast texture from the extended lees contact. The oak fraction adds weight and a biscuity richness without tipping the wine toward a toasty style.

Pinot Gris has drawn attention for aromatic definition and palate weight. Riesling and Pinot Noir complete the seven, with the Pinot Noir sourced from low-yielding Southern Valleys sites. Both show what the range is aiming at: varietal character sharpened by low yields and unhurried fermentation.

In The Glass

Sauvignon Blanc leads with aromatic intensity: guava and gooseberry come first, then capsicum and a mineral edge that keeps the fruit from reading as sweet. The finish is clean and direct, with citrus and fresh acidity. Wild Sauvignon is slower to open: apricot and lime rather than green fruit, with an herbal note threading through a denser mid-palate. The acid is firmer and the wine sits longer in the mouth.

Chardonnay moves through the glass in three registers. The nose offers lemon curd and white peach with a faint oyster-shell mineral note. The palate adds the nutty, savoury quality of extended lees contact. The finish is lush and long, with the toasted oak from the barrel fraction felt as texture and weight rather than flavour. Across the range, wild yeast adds a savoury dimension after the fruit.

A Bottle To Understand It

Start with the Greywacke Chardonnay. It is a 100% wild-fermented Chardonnay from low-yielding Marlborough sites, aged 18 months with 20% in heavily toasted French barrels and 80% in neutral vessel. The glass gives lemon curd, white peach, oyster shell, and a nutty richness from the lees. The oak sits inside the wine rather than on top of it. No residual sweetness, no obvious barrel flavour, but real weight and length. It is the bottle that shows most clearly what Judd chose to do after Cloudy Bay: a Chardonnay made by hand, from contracted fruit, in a leased winery, with no shortcuts in the cellar.

Anecdote

In 2009, Kevin Judd walked out of Cloudy Bay after 25 vintages and set about building the smallest version of a winery he could manage. He did not buy land. He did not build a cellar. He signed a sourcing agreement with the Sutherland family, leased a production facility in the Omaka Valley, and hired a small team. The decision he cared most about was fermentation: Cloudy Bay had been made to a consistent house style, reliable vintage after vintage, because that is what large-scale commercial wine requires. Greywacke would use wild yeast throughout, which meant each vintage would ferment at its own pace, on its own timeline, producing character that no formula could predict. The savoury texture and aromatic complexity that now distinguishes Greywacke from the region's more polished Sauvignon Blanc styles is a direct consequence of that single departure from the approach he had followed for a quarter of a century.

Final Word

Greywacke is a small Marlborough producer that rewards attention. The Sauvignon Blanc is immediately likeable; the Chardonnay takes a moment longer and gives back more. The wild yeast thread running through the range is not a marketing claim: it changes what the wines taste like, introducing a savoury, textured quality that sits apart from the lean, high-acid style the region made famous. Kevin Judd built that style. Then he built something else.

Sources

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